Baghdad, 9 August 2003 (RFE/RL) - The United States says it will send federal investigators to Iraq to probe the car bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad. The bombing killed 19 people and injured 50 on 7 August. It was the first large-scale terrorist attack since Baghdad fell to U.S. forces on 9 April.
Authorities are looking at Ansar al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda-linked group, as a potential suspect. Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is not yet known whether this group was associated with the bombing.
U.S. officials say fewer than a dozen FBI agents will be sent to Iraq to secure and analyze evidence of the bombing. They also will train Iraqi investigators. It is not clear when the team would arrive or how long it would stay.
U.S. forces, meanwhile, are warning some 35 foreign missions in Baghdad that they may be targeted in terrorist attacks similar to the embassy car bombing.
Authorities are looking at Ansar al-Islam, an Al-Qaeda-linked group, as a potential suspect. Lieutenant General Norton Schwartz, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is not yet known whether this group was associated with the bombing.
U.S. officials say fewer than a dozen FBI agents will be sent to Iraq to secure and analyze evidence of the bombing. They also will train Iraqi investigators. It is not clear when the team would arrive or how long it would stay.
U.S. forces, meanwhile, are warning some 35 foreign missions in Baghdad that they may be targeted in terrorist attacks similar to the embassy car bombing.